Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The Pune based SII -Serum Institute of India has paused the clinical trial of COVID vaccine candidate. The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Astra Zeneca.
Serum Institute has stopped the trial after a notice from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The trials of COVID vaccine were stopped globally after one of the recipients in U.K. showed adverse symptoms.

Notes:
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recently released the States’ Start-up Ranking Framework 2019.
As per the ranking, Gujarat has been named as the best performer among states and Andaman & Nicobar Islands has been named as the best performer in the category of Union Territory. Karnataka and Kerala emerged as the Top performers. The framework is based on 7 broad reform areas.

Notes:
India has been ranked at 105th position in the Economic Freedom Index 2020.
‘The Economic Freedom of the World: 2020 Annual Report’ has been released by Fraser Institute of Canada in collaboration with New Delhi based think tank “Centre For Civil Society”. As per the report, Hong Kong and Singapore have topped the index.

Notes:
The Baghjan Oil Well of Oil India Limited (OIL) is located in Eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district has been put off.
A massive fire occurred in the Oil well due to equipment failure and it turned out into a blowout, which means uncontrolled escape of gas at great speed. Oil India Limited (OIL) and foreign experts managed to tame the fire after 110 days.

Notes:
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has recently dedicated three petroleum projects at Bihar to the nation.
Indian Oil’s 193 km long Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline, Indian Oil’s Cooking gas bottling plant at Banka and HPCL’s LPG bottling plant at Harsidh are the three projects at Bihar which have been inaugurated by the Prime Minister.

Notes:
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first annual State of the European Union address.
During the address, she urged the EU members to build a stronger European health union. She also announced the creation of a new agency for biomedical advanced research and development (BARDA). She also proposed to convene a global health summit next year.

Notes:
The Environment Ministerial Meeting of the G20 countries was conducted under the Presidency of Saudi Arabia. The meeting was held in a virtual mode.
India was represented by Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar. The meeting focused on various social and economic issues such as anti-corruption, climate, agriculture, digital economy, education etc.

Notes:
Proposals for the National Highways Excellence Awards 2020 have been invited by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The award was first instituted in 2018 and is conferred to companies that are performing exceptionally well in the construction, operations, maintenance of highways. The awards are given every year in seven categories.

Notes:
As per the media reports, Pakistan has decided to elevate the status of Gilgit-Baltistan to that of a full-fledged province.
India has conveyed to Pakistan that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are Integral parts of the country. Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan is to announce constitutional rights for the province soon.

Notes:
As per a recent report by WPP Plc and Kantar, HDFC Bank has emerged as the most valued brand in India.
The Bank is placed at the top position for seventh consecutive year. HDFC Bank is valued at USD 20.2 billion and it is followed by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) at second position.